Cambodian Villagers Threaten Renewed Protests Against Dam Developerhttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/dam-03022015173133.html
They say protests will continue if the company doesn’t halt construction of the project.

Hundreds of indigenous villagers on Monday threatened to continue protests against the developer of a controversial hydropower dam in Cambodia if it does not halt construction of the project, which they say will negatively affect their cultural traditions and livelihoods.

Dam Samnang, who represents more than 200 Phnong and Kuy indigenous villagers fighting the Lower Sesan 2 hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province, said protests would continue against the project’s developer if it is not shut down, including holding ceremonies to curse the company.

“We will lead a peaceful protest against the company if it continues to construct the dam,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“We demand that the company stop construction.”

The 400-megawatt dam on the Sesan River is being jointly developed by Cambodia’s Royal Group, Hydrolancang International Energy Co., and a subsidiary of Vietnam Electricity, at a cost of U.S. $781 million, and is expected to provide the government of Cambodia with around U.S. $30 million in tax revenue annually.

But villagers say the project will affect their culture and customs, disturb the burial sites of their ancestors, and destroy the rivers and forests they rely on daily for their livelihoods.

On Saturday, the villagers gathered close to the dam’s construction site in Stung Treng’s Sesan district and held a ceremony to curse the developer, calling on spirits to “bring the company to bankruptcy” and “force it to close,” and asking for help to convince the government to halt the project.

Villagers also marched alongside trucks carrying banners, and expressing their strong opposition to the dam.

They also voiced concern about compensation for being displaced by the project, which they say would destroy protected forest areas and kill rare fish.

Villager Ki Mon told RFA that the dam would destroy the resources of nearby rivers and called on her ancestral spirits to punish those responsible for evicting area residents to make way for the project.

“I totally oppose the dam,” she said, warning that “those who do bad deeds will be punished by the spirits.”

Seak Mekong, chief of nearby Srekor village, spoke in support of the villagers' demands, though he said he would not oppose the dam’s construction if the government provides residents with “appropriate compensation.”

“I urge the government to end its culture of intimidation, and instead use dialogue” to resolve the dispute, he said.

No halt in sight

Representatives of the government and the dam developer said Monday that the project would continue as planned, despite the threat of renewed protests.

He added that the government would be unable to provide compensation for villagers’ homes according to market value, although he did not explain why, and suggested residents pursue their grievances through the judicial system if they refuse to be relocated by the project.

“The government has a plan to provide appropriate compensation to the villagers—if they don’t like it, they can file a complaint with the court,” he said.

Vang Y, a representative of the dam’s joint venture developer, which was granted a 45-year lease on the dam, refused to comment on the demands of the villagers, saying only that his company had been given a green light to proceed with the project.

“We don't want to respond to the villagers—we plan to continue construction on the dam to meet the government's goals,” he said.Ongoing opposition

Last December, around 300 villagers marked Human Rights Day by marching along the Sesan River in Stung Treng to raise awareness of the “negative impacts of hydropower dams,” including the Lower Sesan 2.

The villagers also have called on authorities to scrap two additional proposed 300-megawatt dams in Ratanakiri province—the Lower Sesan 3 dam and the Srepok 3 dam.

In June, Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem allayed concerns in parliament over inadequate compensation offered to villagers who face relocation for the Lower Sesan 2, saying the government has allocated them more than four times the area taken over for the project.

Reported by Prach Chev for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

]]>Radio Free Asiawaterhydropower/damsdamsenergyresourcesforced eviction2015-03-02T22:45:00ZStoryMissing Montagnards Caught, Deported to Vietnamhttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/montagnards-03022015112350.html
Activist group says 36 who sought asylum were arrested with help from Cambodian police.

Three dozen Montagnards who mysteriously disappeared on a trip from northeastern Cambodia to the country’s capital Phnom Penh were arrested and deported back to Vietnam, witnesses and a human rights activist said.

The 36 Montagnards from Vietnam and a local Cambodian resident who was helping them were arrested in the middle of the night on Feb. 25, at Kon Mum district in Ratanakiri province in a joint action by Cambodian and Vietnamese police.

A Cambodian driver told RFA’s Khmer Service that he had dropped them at a Vietnamese police station across the border in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province.

The Cambodian helper, from the Charai ethnic group, was arrested with the 36 and sent to Vietnam, the man’s family told the Cambodian human rights group Adhoc.

Adhoc quoted a local official as saying that at least two plain-clothed Vietnamese police crossed into Cambodia and carried out the arrests and deportation with help from Cambodian authorities.

Asked by RFA about the case, Ratanakiri authorities said they had no information about the arrests.

The 36 Montagnards, Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands who have fled to Cambodia and been hiding in the forest of Ratanakiri province, were the latest of at least 50 people seeking United Nations refugee status for alleged political and religious persecution in their homeland.

Although dozens of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia in recent months, authorities maintain they are not refugees but rather farmers who have entered the country for financial reasons. U.N. efforts to contact the refugees are often blocked by Cambodian authorities.

The deportation of the 36 raises to 45 the number of Montagnards to have been arrested and deported back to Vietnam in February alone in what rights groups say is a violation of international law.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

]]>Radio Free Asiacivil rightsrefugeesdeportationhuman rightsasylum2015-03-02T16:35:34ZStoryThree Dozen Montagnards Vanish en Route to the Cambodian Capital http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/three-dozen-montagnards-disappear-02272015151423.html
Local officials say the ethnic minority people from Vietnam have not been arrested.

Three dozen Montagnards have mysteriously disappeared after they left a remote province in northeastern Cambodia on Wednesday night to seek help from United Nations in the country’s capital, a human rights activist and local villagers who were assisting them said.

The 36 Montagnards were part of a larger group of 50 Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands who have fled to Cambodia and been hiding in the forest of Ratanakiri province, hoping to seek refugee status for alleged political and religious persecution in their homeland.

Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for the Cambodian rights group Adhoc, told RFA that the 36 Montagnards decided to travel to Phnom Penh by minivan after they had waited too long for United Nations workers to rescue them.

"I appeal to the authorities to help find them, regardless of whether they are immigrants or refugees, and to take appropriate measures according to the law,” he said.

The Montagnards were from three separate groups who are hiding in Ratanakiri’s O’Yadaw and Lumphat districts, Chhay Thy said.

Local villagers who have been proving food and shelter to the three dozen Montagnards helped them plan their trip to Phnom Penh, he said.

He also said there had been no communication with the members of the group since they had left the area, and that a villager who was leading the way for them was missing as well.

Lost contact

One local villager told RFA that the Montagnards’ phones became disconnected after they had reached Lumphat district.

He said he tried to contact the driver, who is a local resident, but could not reach him.

Moeng Sinath, spokesman for the government of Ratanakiri province, said authorities had not arrested the 36 Montagnards, but declined to provide further comment.

U.N. officials, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media, said the group had not been met in Phnom Penh, according to an article in The Phnom Penh Post.

Adhoc has asked authorities to investigate the disappearances.

Although dozens of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia in recent months, authorities maintain they are not refugees but rather farmers who have entered the country for financial reasons.

So far this month, authorities have arrested and deported nine of them back to Vietnam in what rights groups say is a violation of international law.

Reported by Ratha Visal for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

]]>Radio Free Asiamontagnardsrefugeesad hocrights groupsun2015-02-27T20:30:00ZStoryCambodian Villagers Reveal Eight More Montagnards in Hidinghttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/eight-more-montagnards-in-hiding-02262015163936.html
Revelation comes after four other Montagnards are deported back to Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

Eight more ethnic Montagnards from Vietnam are hiding in the forest of a northeastern Cambodian province, according to villagers with knowledge of the situation and a national rights group.

The seven men and one woman, who are between ages 20 to 40, have been in hiding in Ratanakiri province since Monday, villagers who live in the province’s Lumphat district close to the Vietnam border told RFA’s Khmer Service.

But with the continued flow of Montagnards entering the area, villagers who provide them food and shelter are now facing food shortages themselves, said one villager, who declined to be named.

“We have helped them, but we don't have enough food and safe refuge,” he said. “Right now there is no thick forest anymore. They are afraid that they will be arrested.”

The arrival of the eight new Montagnards plus another known to be at large in Cambodia brings their total number to 50.

The villagers said they did not make known the presence of the new group of Montagnards at first, because they did not have a chance to inform local rights groups and the United Nations to help the Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands obtain asylum status. The Montagnards say they face persecution in Vietnam.

The group originally had a ninth member, but he lost his way, villagers said.

Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, told RFA that local police have continued to patrol the area where villagers are hiding the Montagnards who have crossed the border.

He said the growing number of Montagnards entering Cambodia and hiding in the province has outstripped the available safe hiding places or food supplies.

“The Cambodian villagers who are helping the Montagnards have their own problems,” he said. “They are having difficulties and cannot give them supplies. The refugees have asked the U.N. to help them.”

Arrivals and deportations

The news of the new group of Montagnards comes a day after authorities deported four others back to Vietnam after they were arrested a day earlier.

Their deportation coincided with the arrival of seven more Montagnards in Ratanakiri’s O’Yadaw district.

Earlier this month, authorities had deported a family of five Montagnards to Vietnam after they were discovered hiding in Ratanakiri.

Rights groups have criticized the deportations as violations of Cambodia’s commitment to protecting refugees and allowing them to apply for asylum under an international convention the country signed in 1992.

Dozens of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia in recent months, citing religious and political persecution in Vietnam.

But Cambodia authorities say the Montagnards are not refugees escaping political and religious persecution in their homeland, but rather farmers who enter the country for financial reasons.

Australian refugees

In sharp contrast to the tough stance on the Montagnards, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Thursday that Cambodia had decided to accept refugees from Australia on humanitarian grounds.

Australia has housed about 500 of its refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru after the government there began making refugee status determinations last year, according to a report in The Sidney Morning Herald.

An additional 900 asylum seekers are being held in the country’s detention center waiting for their refugee status to be determined, the report said.

Australia struck a $40 million deal with Cambodia last September to accept refugees who volunteered to be resettled in the southeast Asian nation.

Cambodia was originally supposed to allow about 1,000 refugees from Nauru resettle in the country, but the number has since been was reduced, according to a report by The Guardian.

“We are taking only those refugees from Australia who volunteer to come,” Hun Sen said.

He also said politics in Australia had led to criticism of the refugee deal between the two governments.

“We only accept only volunteers, but if they don't want to come, it is up to them,” he said. “We can't force them to be here. The Australian political conflict has affected the deal in Cambodia."

Less strict conditions

On Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental group that helps resettle migrants, agreed to resettle refugees from Nauru to Cambodia under conditions that were less strict than those of the original deal.

Now all refugees on the island can live and work any place in Cambodia, rather than being restricted to the capital Phnom Penh for one year before moving to rural areas under the previous terms.

The refugees also will receive access to health care, education and employment opportunities in Cambodia.

“IOM believes that its involvement will facilitate improvements for the good of all parties in this extremely complex situation, bearing in mind IOM’s mandate to ensure the well-being and dignity of all migrants,” the organization said in a printed statement.

Critics of the deal have said the refugees would have difficulty in Cambodia, because the country is poorly suited to accept them and severely corrupt. They also note that Cambodia has a terrible record of protecting the rights of refugees and a dismal human rights record.

So far, however, none of the refugees on Nauru has volunteered for relocation to Cambodia.

Reported by Ratha Visal for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Human rights in Myanmar backtracked in key areas in 2014 despite ongoing reforms in the Southeast Asian nation, according to a report released Wednesday, which counted discrimination and restrictions on freedom of expression among the worst violations in the country.

In its annual report on the state of the world’s human rights, London-based Amnesty International said the situation of the ethnic Muslim Rohingyas “deteriorated” in 2014, with ongoing discrimination in law and practice, and authorities failing to hold perpetrators of anti-Muslim violence to account.

“Individuals suffered persistent discrimination in law and policy, exacerbated by a deepening humanitarian crisis, ongoing eruptions of religious and anti-Muslim violence, and government failures to investigate attacks on Rohingya and other Muslims,” the report said.

“The authorities also failed to address incitement to violence based on national, racial and religious hatred.”

An estimated 139,000 people—mostly Rohingya—remained displaced in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state after violence erupted between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingyas in 2012, Amnesty said, adding that the situation had worsened when some aid organizations were expelled from the country after they were attacked by Rakhine people for allegedly giving preferential treatment to Muslims.

Rohingyas also remained deprived of nationality under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Act, leaving them open to restrictions on freedom of movement that affected their livelihoods, the report said.

The government in October introduced a new Rakhine State Action Plan which, if implemented, would further entrench discrimination and segregation of the Rohingyas, it said, adding that the announcement appeared to trigger a new wave of people fleeing the country in boats to join the 87,000 who have already done so since the violence started in 2012.

The government and ethnic armed groups failed to agree to a nationwide cease-fire, and ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Kachin and Northern Shan states led to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law reported on both sides, including unlawful killings and torture, and other ill-treatment, such as rape and other crimes of sexual violence.

Amnesty said that freedom of expression and right of peaceful assembly remained “severely restricted” in 2014, with “scores” of human rights defenders, journalists, political activists and farmers arrested or imprisoned “solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights.”

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein failed to keep his promise to release the country’s remaining prisoners of conscience in 2014, it said, while protests against land confiscations and forced evictions were “widespread,” some of which were met with “unnecessary or excessive use of force” by security forces.

Amnesty also slammed Myanmar’s failure to ratify the U.N. Convention against Torture as promised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that allegations of torture and other ill-treatment were “persistent,” though investigations into complaints were rare and suspected perpetrators were seldom held to account.

Meanwhile, it said, immunity from prosecution for past violations by the security forces and other government officials remained codified in the country’s junta-backed 2008 constitution, denying victims of past rights violations and their families truth, justice, compensation and any other form of reparation.

Cambodia

In Cambodia, respect for the right to freedoms of expression, association and assembly deteriorated due to a seven-month ban on public gatherings, the report said, which was instituted following a three-day crackdown on January 2014 protests in Phnom Penh that resulted in at least four deaths and 23 arrests.

Authorities used “excessive force” against peaceful protesters, resulting in deaths and injuries, it said, and district security guards and plain-clothed men in the capital frequently used weapons such as sticks, wooden batons, metal bars, electroshock weapons and slingshots to break up demonstrations.

Human rights defenders and political activists faced threats, harassment, prosecution and sometimes violence, though impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses persisted, with no thorough, impartial and independent investigations into killings and beatings, Amnesty said.

Thousands of people affected by land grabbing by private companies for development and agro-industry faced forced eviction and loss of land, housing and livelihood in 2014, it said.

The group cited an April report by local rights group Licadho, which estimated that the total number of people affected since 2000 by land grabbing and forced evictions in 13 provinces monitored—about half the country—had passed half a million.

Vietnam

In one-party communist Vietnam, “severe restrictions” on freedoms of expression, association and assembly continued in 2014, Amnesty said, as the state continued to control the media and the judiciary, as well as political and religious institutions.

At least 60 prisoners of conscience remained jailed in harsh conditions following “unfair trials,” including bloggers, labor and land rights activists, political activists, religious followers, members of ethnic groups and advocates for human rights and social justice, while new trials and arrests took place.

Amnesty said authorities attempted to curtail the activities of unauthorized civil society groups through harassment, surveillance and restrictions on freedom of movement, while security officers frequently harassed and physically attacked peaceful activists and held them in short-term detention.

Laos

In communist Laos, state controls over the media, judiciary and political and social institutions also contributed to severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in 2014, Amnesty said.

Draft laws and a decree to control the use of the internet and social media were completed by the end of the year, it noted.

The report cited a “lack of openness” and a “scarcity of information” in the country, which it said made independent monitoring of the human rights situation difficult.

It also noted that the enforced disappearance of prominent civil society member Sombath Somphone remained unresolved at the end of the year, adding that police had provided little information about the progress of their investigation.

“This compounded fears that the failure to properly investigate Sombath Somphone’s abduction of to attempt to locate him indicated complicity in his disappearance, which undermined the development of an active and confident civil society,” the report said.

Conservation groups have called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to press Lao President Choummaly Sayasone to postpone the construction of the much-criticized Don Sahong dam project on the Mekong River in Laos.

Choummaly’s scheduled visit to Cambodia Thursday has prompted critics of the Don Sahong dam project to highlight concerns of environmentalists and neighboring countries, who argue that it will block migratory fish routes and destroy endangered ecosystems, harming nutrition and livelihoods across regional boundaries. Like Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia all border the Mekong.

“I think the Lao government should listen to nongovernmental organizations and try to understand why they are asking for [project] delays or cancellations,” a Lao NGO official who requested anonymity told RFA’s Lao Service. “NGOs are not always antigovernment, but they are helping the government to ensure that communities receive the best benefits from development of the dam.”

The Lao government should not rely on studies provided by the project’s investor, because they are not credible, he said. Instead, it should conduct its own studies or support NGOs to conduct them.

Malaysia’s Mega First Corporation Berhad (Mega First) is building the dam on the Mekong River, just two kilometers (1.2 miles) north of Cambodia.

“Different studies from different sources will help the government to make an informed decision,” the Lao NGO official said.

Should the government proceed with the investor’s development plan, it should ensure that the company well compensates those living in communities both upstream and downstream, whose livelihoods will be ruined by the loss of land, he said.

“The government should make sure the investor is responsible for all long-term impacts; otherwise, those affected will go to the government to solve their problems, while the investor takes the money back home,” he said.

Teak Seng, the Greater Mekong director of the environmental group WWF, has said more studies are needed on the project, which would affect a half million people and threaten endangered Irrawaddy dolphins.

Chhith Sam Ath, country director of the WWF in Cambodia, told RFA that construction on the Don Sahong would have to be delayed by at least 10 years until all studies had been completed and the preservation of Irrawaddy dolphins and the area’s biodiversity could be assured.

Prior consultation process

In late January, the Joint Committee of the Mekong River Commission, which conducts prior consultations for the Don Sahong project to evaluate benefits, risks and impact on the environment and people in the Lower Mekong Basin, held a meeting in Vientiane.

But because representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam could not reach an agreement on how to proceed with the project, the decision was deferred to future meetings at the ministerial level.

Laos insisted that the Don Sahong dam’s prior consultation process had been completed, but its neighbors called for an extension of the process until further studies and additional consultations were conducted.

Plans by Laos and its neighbors to dam up rivers critical to local livelihoods have sparked protests in every country, forcing the mostly authoritarian governments of the region to pay attention to environmentalists.

Many controversial dams

Hun Sen on Tuesday repeated a pledge that another controversial dam project—the $400 million Chhay Areng hydropower dam in southwestern Cambodia’s Koh Kong province—would not be built on his watch.

“I don’t want to see the younger generation deal with problems from the dam,” he said. “I want to inform you that I am mindful of the difference between economic benefits and environmental impacts.”

The prime minister called for further impact studies of the project and pledged to preserve the Areng Valley in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, where the dam site is located.

Conservation groups and local residents have also objected to the building of another controversial hydroelectric dam project, the Xayaburi Dam, under construction on the Lower Mekong River approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of the town of Xayaburi in northern Laos.

Green groups argue that the dam could threaten the region’s environment and food security.

Construction on the project’s second stage began in January, worrying local Thai fisherman who are concerned that unpredictable manmade tides will further deplete fish populations and diminish their livelihoods, according to an article in the Bangkok Post.

Viraphonh Viravong, Laos’ deputy prime minister of energy and mines, told the Vientiane Times that the river flow would be affected only for a few hours during the initial closure of the dam while workers build a system to let fish move upstream and downstream.

Reported by Ounkeo Souksavanh of RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

]]>Radio Free Asiahydropower/damsenvironmentdon sahongmekongwwfhun senchoummaly sayasone2015-02-25T21:25:00ZStoryCambodia Deports Four Ethnic Montagnards to Vietnamhttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/deportation-02252015131725.html
The four were caught in a raid by local authorities a day earlier.

Cambodia on Wednesday deported four ethnic Montagnards back to Vietnam after authorities arrested them in a raid a day earlier, according to a local government official in Ratanakiri province, where the group had been hiding in the jungle after crossing the border to escape alleged persecution.

Moeng Sinath, spokesman for the government of Ratanakkiri province told RFA’s Khmer Service the four Montagnards—Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands—had been detained as they attempted to flee a police raid on Tuesday, though he declined to give details of their deportation.

“The police arrested them—I just received confirmation from the provincial police,” he said.

“They deported them, but I didn’t ask for details because it is police business.”

The move marks the second time this month that Cambodian authorities have deported a group of Montagnards to Vietnam’s Central Highlands after a family of five was sent home when they were discovered hiding in Ratanakiri.

Local villagers told RFA on Tuesday that police raided two Montagnard groups who were hiding in Ratanakiri’s Lumphat district after discovering their hiding spots in the jungle, adding that at least 13 armed police officers had taken part in the search.

The Phnom Penh Post cited a villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying around 40 police officers took part in the Tuesday raid on a camp of nine Montagnards who had crossed into Cambodia around two weeks ago, sending the group fleeing into the jungle.

Chhay Thy, the provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, told RFA that seven more Montagnards had arrived in Ratanakiri’s O’Yadaw district Monday, adding that he was concerned for the safety of those who remain hidden because of a lack of food and shelter.

Still in hiding

The arrival of the seven and deportation of the four on Wednesday brings to 41 the total of Montagnards who are still in hiding in Cambodia, claiming they are fleeing persecution in Vietnam.

Authorities in Ratanakiri province had refused last week to cooperate with a U.N. team that wanted to retrieve the Montagnards and help them seek asylum.

Wan-Hea Lee, the U.N.’s office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) representative in Cambodia, told RFA that the authorities blocked U.N. vehicles from reaching areas where the Montagnards were hiding when the team arrived in the province on Feb. 16.

In addition to the Montagnards still in hiding, 13 others are being interviewed by the Interior Ministry’s refugee department to determine whether they qualify for refugee status, while another seven are waiting to register for the process in the capital Phnom Penh.

The Cambodia Daily quoted Lee as saying three more had arrived in the capital on Feb. 12, but “was not permitted to register.”

Refugees or migrants

Cambodia usually summarily deports Montagnards, viewing them as illegal aliens rather than a minority group fleeing persecution in Vietnam.

Chhay Thy told RFA Wednesday that around 3,000 Montagnards have been interviewed by the U.N. after crossing into Cambodia from Vietnam between 2001 and 2008.

He said the recent arrivals who have traveled into Cambodia since 2014 have complained of renewed religious persecution and being blocked from communicating online with nongovernmental organizations by authorities back home, though Vietnamese officials deny those claims.

“The refugees claim they came due to persecution and because they are blocked from Internet communication, however, Vietnamese authorities I have interviewed say they fled to Cambodia because they are in debt and only did so for economic reasons,” he said.

Reported by Ratha Visal for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

]]>Radio Free Asiamontagnardsrefugeesadhocreligionun2015-02-25T18:40:00ZStorySeven More Montagnards Arrive in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Provincehttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/seven-montagnards-arrive-in-ratanakiri-02242015133435.html
They arrive from Vietnam as local police arrest four others already hiding in the area.

A new group of seven Montagnards from Vietnam arrived in northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province on Monday, while police raided another group and arrested four of the asylum-seekers who were hiding in the area, villagers living along the Cambodia-Vietnam border and a human rights group said.

Chhay Thy, the province coordinator of national human rights group Adhoc, said he is concerned about the security of both the new arrivals and existing group of 36 Montagnards—Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands—already in the country.

“There are more Montagnards coming, [but] there is not shelter and food,” he said, adding that villagers had expressed concern that they can no longer provide safe shelter for the refugees in the face of raids by local police.

Chhay Thy also said he had informed a United Nations team in Cambodia about the new arrivals as well as the arrest of the four others.

Other villagers said police on Tuesday raided two Montagnard groups who were hiding in the Ratanakiri’s Lumphat district.

“The Police chased those Montagnards after they found their hiding shelters,” said one villager, who declined to be named. “There were 13 police officers with guns.”

Lumphat’s district governor Nou The confirmed that he had organized a group of officers to search for the Montagnards, but said he had not received any information about their hiding places.

“I ordered the operation, but I have not heard any reports,” he said.

Local and provincial police officers refused to discuss the arrests.

Refusal to cooperate

Authorities in Ratanakiri province had refused last week to cooperate with a U.N. team that wanted to retrieve the three dozen Montagnards and help them seek asylum.

Wan-Hea Lee, the U.N.’s office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) representative in Cambodia, said that the authorities blocked U.N. vehicles from reaching areas where the Montagnards were hiding.

The U.N team had arrived in the province on Feb. 16 to seek cooperation with local authorities to retrieve the Montagnards, who fear that Cambodian officials will deport them back to Vietnam where they face persecution.

Cambodia usually summarily deports Montagnards, viewing them as illegal aliens rather than a minority group fleeing persecution in Vietnam.

Reported by Ratha Visal of RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

]]>Radio Free Asiamontagnardsrefugeesadhocreligionun2015-02-24T18:42:56ZStoryProvincial Authorities in Cambodia Refuse to Help UN Rescue Montagnardshttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/un-blocked-in-ratanakiri-province-02202015140904.html
Cambodia insists its interior minister must approve cooperation with the UN in Ratanakiri province.

Local authorities in northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province on Friday refused to cooperate with a United Nations team on a mission to retrieve three dozen Montagnards from Vietnam hiding in the forest there, hoping to seek asylum.

Wan-Hea Lee, the U.N.’s office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) representative in Cambodia, told RFA’s Khmer Service in an email that authorities blocked U.N. vehicles from reaching areas where Montagnards— Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands— are hiding.

“The UN vehicle was blocked from travelling on the main roads, particularly those that lead to the forest,” she said. “Later today, movement was permitted in certain areas but not where the Montagnards are said to be.”

The U.N. team was told that Interior Minister Sar Kheng had to approve cooperation with the OHCHR in the province before authorities could work with representatives from the international body, Lee said.

“I hope that such an instruction will be issued as soon as possible—or better, that the ministry itself will assume its duty to ensure that those seeking asylum will be able to access the asylum procedure,” she said “I underscore the fact that this duty is a voluntarily accepted legal obligation.”

But Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator of the Cambodia rights group Adhoc, confirmed that for four days police have prevented the U.N. from leaving the provincial city and traveling to where the Montagnards are in hiding from Cambodian authorities whom they fear will deport them.

“The U.N mission didn’t get any fruitful outcomes. The U.N. left and waited for a green light from the Ministry of Interior before returning,” he said, referring to a previous trip to the province by the U.N. to retrieve Montagnards.

The U.N team arrived in the province on Monday to seek cooperation with local authorities to retrieve the Montagnards, who fear that Cambodian authorities will deport them back to Vietnam where they face persecution.

But local police blocked the team from traveling into Ratanakiri, Lee said.

Cambodia summarily deports Montagnards, viewing them as illegal aliens rather than a minority group fleeing persecution in Vietnam.

Reported by Ratha Visal of RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

]]>Radio Free Asiamontagnardsunrefugeesadhoc2015-02-20T19:22:36ZStorySix New Montagnards Seeking Refugee Status Arrive in Cambodiahttp://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/six-montagnards-arrive-in-ratanakiri-02192015162656.html
But provincial authorities have blocked a United Nations team from trying to find and help them and others in hiding.

A new group of six Montagnards from Vietnam have arrived in northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province to seek political refuge, as a United Nations team tries to locate and assist other refugees in hiding, a villager who provided shelter to the Montagnards said.

The villager, who declined to be identified, said the group arrived between Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 and are at a location between the border of Ratanakiri and eastern Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province.

“They are in hiding because they are afraid of deportation,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service. “They are searching for a thick jungle to hide in.”

The new arrivals bring the total number of Montagnards—Christian indigenous people from Vietnam’s Central Highlands—in hiding in Cambodia to 36, local rights group Adhoc said.

A U.N team had arrived in the province on Monday to seek cooperation with local authorities to retrieve the Montagnards, who fear that Cambodian authorities will deport them back to Vietnam where they face persecution.

But local police blocked the team from traveling into Ratanakiri, said Wan-Hea Lee, the U.N.’s office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) representative in Cambodia.

“The provincial governor has been unresponsive to all our efforts to contact him,” she said by email. “OHCHR reiterates its concern for the well-being of those persons reportedly seeking asylum and calls on the authorities at all levels to cooperate in bringing them to safety and to the asylum procedure, with or without the involvement of the United Nations.”

Ratanakiri province spokesman Moeng Sinath confirmed that the U.N. had arrived, but said the team had not yet contacted local authorities. He also said he had no information about the newly arrived Montagnards.

“We have not received any information yet, but I saw U.N. vehicles, although they haven’t visited the provincial headquarters yet,” he said.

‘Accept them as refugees’

Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator of Adhoc, said his group had received information about the arrival of the latest group of Montagnards and that a group of five refugees had made a video about their plight, which Adhoc forwarded to the U.N.

“They urged the U.N. and the government to accept them as refugees,” he said.

Another group of nine Montagnards had been spotted on Feb. 10 after crossing the border from Vietnam’s Gia Lai province to seek refugee status in Cambodia.

Dozens of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia in recent months, citing religious and political persecution in Vietnam. But Cambodian authorities have often sought to send them back across the border.

In early February, Cambodian authorities deported a family of five Montagnards to Vietnam’s Central Highlands after they were discovered hiding in Ratanakiri.

The Central Highlands are home to some 30 tribes of indigenous peoples, known collectively as Montagnards, or the Degar, who suffer extreme persecution, according to rights groups.

Early last decade, thousands in the region staged violent protests against religious controls and the confiscation of their ancestral lands, prompting a brutal crackdown by Vietnamese security forces.

As a result of the crackdown, authorities charged hundreds of Montagnards with national security crimes.

Representatives of the minority group say the Montagnards only want indigenous land rights and basic human rights in Vietnam, despite attempts by Hanoi to link them to overseas separatist groups.

Reported by Ratha Visal for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.